Two Children and a Pirate Crew
by BearTamer
Summary: While going through a garbage pile in Grey Terminal looking for valuables, Sabo is informed that there is a pirate ship loaded with treasure docked at Foosha Village. When he tells Ace they decide to take the opportunity to check it out. Honestly, what could go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

**Two Children and a Pirate Crew**

Chapter 1 Castoff

It was an unusually warm day as Sabo pawed through what many would consider garbage in Grey Terminal; but as the old saying goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure." The blonde was very meticulous in his searching, as he knew from firsthand experience the things that nobles threw out. In his younger days, he had watched his father throw away various things from gold watches that were broken but could be easily fixed, to the books that would hold information on how to fix them. Sabo always thought he his father had thrown that stuff out just to spite him.

"We're Nobles Sabo," The blonde heard himself impersonating his father with an overexaggerated sneer in his voice. "If something is broken and worthless we throw it away." Sabo shook his head from the thought, he hated thinking about his past life. In fact the only person who probably hated his past more than himself was his friend Ace.

It had only been around 5 months ago when he had learned that Ace was in fact son of the late Pirate King, Gold Roger. It had been a painful experience, Ace docked him pretty hard after he told him and Sabo just stood there gaping like a fish. In Sabo's defense Ace wasn't really the best at breaking earth-shattering news.

"Hey Sabo, my dad was Gold Roger, the Pirate King, so I guess you hate me now."

Who the hell does that? In the end however, after what felt like hours of punching, biting, kicking, screaming, and crying, they had both calmed down enough to actually talk about what Ace had told him.

Ace was the son of the Pirate King. As a child Sabo didn't really see anything wrong with it. After all it wasn't like Ace ever knew his father, so he wasn't raised by him. Everyone knew Gold Roger was dead, surely, they wouldn't pass his supposed sins down to Ace would they? But then Ace started casually asking people, "If the King of the Pirates had a son, what would you do?"

"I'd kill him."

"I'd skin him alive."

"I'd chop him up and send him in a box to the Marines with a note saying, 'You're welcome.'"

And those were some of the more savory responses he got. To say Sabo was worried about his friend was an understatement. The slightly suspicious, yet strong and clever boy, who had big dreams to leave Dawn Island and become a pirate just to spite his grandfather he had met when he was 8 was all but gone. Now he was angry, always suspect of everyone, and Sabo was afraid that the taunts of those in Gray Terminal and from Edge Town were getting to Ace. "Maybe it would be better if I was just dead."

Sabo hated it when Ace spoke like that, because there wasn't anything that Sabo could do or say that would make Ace feel any different. It would make him feel like a hypocrite because there were days when he himself didn't feel like he was worthy of life due to his own lineage. He just didn't have everyone and their mother reminding him of that fact, like Ace did.

There had to be someone out there who could truly convince Ace that his life was worth living, but who?

"You ain't gonna find shit in that pile." A familiar voice slurred between hiccups. "It was picked clean yesterday."

Sabo groaned. He knew that it was Rocko one of the resident jackasses of Gray Terminal. Although Sabo got along fairly okay with the other residents of Gray Terminal (meaning he stayed out of their way and they stayed out of his once he proved that he wasn't just some weakling kid.) Rocko was one of those types of people that would actively seek him out to antagonize him. Usually Sabo would ignore him. Messing with Rocko without Ace around to back him up could mean trouble later, especially if the rumors that Rocko was trying to get in with Bluejam were true.

"If you want summin real good, there's a pirate ship docked outside Foosha Village." Rocko continued with a smirk on his face.

Sabo found himself turning toward Rocko failing to hide the curiosity in his voice. "You mean to tell me there's a pirate ship in Foosha?"

The drunk nodded.

"Foosha. The same Foosha where Marine Hero Vice Admiral Garp "The Fist" regularly docks when he comes to Dawn Island." Sabo clarified.

Rocko nodded again in frustration. "Yeah, you know any other Foosha village? Anyway, I gots a proshshin fer ya."

Sabo frowned. "You mean a proposition."

The man merely waved a dismissive hand. "Whatever. Anyway, this ship is supposedly pretty nice, so if you and that spot boy steal the treasure from that ship then maybe Bluejam will forgive you for stealing his treasure."

"Bullshit," Sabo all but shouted. "We've never stolen anything from Bluejam and you know it."

Rocko snorted. "You think I care. Look if you get us the treasure we'll leave ya'll alone and if you don't we'll just kill ya. Either way we both win. Either we get treasure and you idiots don't have to deal with us or you die and spot boy gets his wish to die."

Sabo felt an involuntary shudder. "Ace doesn't want to die," he found himself saying quietly.

Rocko rolled his eyes. "Who the hell are you trying to convince? Anyway are you in or not."

Sabo rubbed his chin in thought. Honestly what could be the worst that could happen. They could get some treasure for their own fund even. Or hell, maybe they could just take the opportunity and leave Dawn Island now.

He quickly shook his head disregarding the idea. For one thing Ace would never agree to it and there was a chance that these pirates docked at Foosha could kill them. Then another thought occurred to him. If they gave all the treasure to Bluejam then there was a chance that these Foosha-docked pirates would kill Bluejam. The idea made him grin like a maniac. They would finally be free from Bluejam and his cronies. Besides he had always wanted to visit Foosha Village, he had heard from Ace that it was quite nice (too bad the idea of Garp frequenting the Village for some odd reason kept Ace away for about three years).

"Alright Rocko, you got yourself a deal."

Rocko grinned. "Knew you'd see it our way. Alright listen apparently these pirates spend most of their time at this joint called "The Party Bar" all you and Spot boy have to do is sneak aboard the ship and steal the treasure." his smile dropped to a frown. "And no funny business, we'll know if you try something."

Sabo kept himself from laughing. It was obvious that Bluejam was scared of this pirate otherwise he would just steal the treasure himself. Instead he was sending two kids to do his dirty work. Well too bad for him. They were going to find out the hard way that trying to get rid of him and Ace were going to be painful experiences for Bluejam and his crew.

Sabo felt conviction rise up inside him. Who the Hell were they to decide how and when he and Ace died. Only they could make that decision.

Without paying Rocko any mind Sabo leapt off the top of the garbage pile and headed into the woods to find Ace.

 **LINE BREAK**

Ace panted heavily clutching his pipe tightly. Finally after hours of searching he found a boar large enough to satisfy him and the rest of the bandits per their agreement. This damn heatwave had been a pain in the ass for hunting. All of the animals were in hiding and hard to find.

The boar stomped the ground angrily, bristling its fur and getting ready to charge. However, Ace was ready. Squaring up against the monstrous animal Ace taunted the beast and the boar took the bait and began charging. Ace smirked in triumph as he jumped high out of the boar's way and swung his pipe smacking the animal square on the head.

The effect was instantaneous as the boar slumped over in defeat. Ace spun his pipe around expertly and jabbed it through the beast's skull. It was a quick and clean kill. Ace always hated seeing animals suffer, so he always made his kills as painless as possible.

The boy took out a knife and began quartering the animal ensuring that he drained the blood and removed the organs. Unfortunately though the process filled the wood with a thick aroma of blood which attracted predators.

"Ace Look Out!" A voice yelled in panic.

Ace heeded the warning and rolled out of the way of the massive paw of a bear. Ace bit his lower lip in frustration. How did such a large animal sneak up on him? Ace watched in growing anger as the bear began to sniff the dead boar with interest. How dare that stupid bear try to take his kill!

Ace began yelling and would have charged the bear if it wasn't for two small hands grabbing the back of his shirt and throwing him to the ground. "Damnit Ace, do you have a death wish?" Wait the voice from earlier that was Sabo's voice.

"Sabo what are you doing here? Hey wait, the boar!" Ace scrambled to his feet and started to go towards where the bear was lumbering deeper into the woods with his prize, but Sabo stopped him once again. "Sabo, why are you stopping me from getting what is rightfully mine?"

Sabo sighed before jabbing a finger into Ace's chest. "Look here you moron, We've got better things to do then have you die by a bear."

Ace crossed his arms and huffed. "I've could've easily taken on that bear."

Sabo snorted. "Since when? You and I have been trying to tackle that beast practically since we met and even together we can barely get a dent in its thick hide. What makes you think you can take it on by yourself?"

"Desperation?" Ace offered. "I've been hunting in this damn heat for hours and I'm starving then that damn bear took what was rightfully mine."

Sabo shot his friend a sympathetic look before smiling. "Don't worry about that. In fact forget the bear, We need to be in top condition for what I have planned." Ace shot the blonde a quizzical look, making Sabo's smile grow wider. "How would you like to steal a real pirates treasure?"

Ace grinned. "Do tell."

 **Line Break**

"You know what Sabo, I've changed my mind. I don't want to go," Ace trembled slightly as he spoke. They were just outside Foosha and could see the famous windmills in the horizon.

Sabo rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me your afraid. What are the odds of your grandfather being there?"

Ace looked at Sabo directly grabbing his shoulders. "I am afraid and you should be too. You don't know the shitty geezer like I do. If he finds me here or finds out that I'm willingly walking onto a pirate ship he will kill me, bring me back to life, and kill me again."

Sabo removed Ace's hands from his shoulders and looked at him pointedly. "Look Ace we'll be real sneaky and not get caught. Your grandpa won't know anything. Besides what about the plan to get rid of Bluejam once and for all?"

"First of all, Gramps has his ways of finding things out. No idea how he does it but still." Ace pointed out. "Second of all, what makes you think that these pirates are just going to let us get away with stealing their treasure?"

Sabo shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes you just gotta take a chance Ace. You trusted me with your secret, I'm just asking you to trust me again."

"Fine," Ace muttered crossing his arms. "But if we run into the shitty geezer I'm using you as a human shield."

"Glad we can be so honest with each other." Sabo grinned and muttered with playful sarcasm and with that they were off.

 **LINE BREAK**

It was easier than expected to make their ways to the dock without being noticed. Using years of stealth training from hunting and books Ace and Sabo read allowed them to sneak by people without being noticed. The thing was though that they barely had to use their techniques.

"This place sure seems peaceful for there being a pirate ship here." Ace pointed out. "Sabo, are you sure Rocko gave you the right information?"

Sabo looked around anxiously before grinning and pointing to the top of a fairly large ship. "See that black flag Ace? That's our pirate ship."

Ace peered at the top of the ship spotting the black flag along with bits of white and what looked like red in the creases. It was honestly hard to tell what the flag looked like due to the lack of wind. "Alright," Ace conceded. "So there is a pirate ship, but how are we supposed to get up there?"

Sabo frowned looking up at the large ship and was wondering the same thing. There was no gangplank leading up to the ship and getting one would be too cumbersome and noticeable for their plans. He continued to study the ship from behind the crates they were hiding when a slight gust of wind came and gave him an answer. A rope ladder swayed ever so slightly in the breeze. Sabo smiled, it was their ticket up.

Sabo grabbed Ace's arm and pointed at the ladder. Nodding in understanding they both made their way over ensuring that no one saw them. When they reached the ship Ace was first to jump over the short distance and grab the ladder. The plan was for Ace to go first because he had more firsthand experience in sneaking around without being noticed. He would board the ship and ensure that no one was on deck. If there was someone he would try to gauge their strength without actually engaging them and him and Sabo would come back and steal the treasure under the cover of night.

It was important for the plan that the pirates didn't find out that it was Ace and Sabo stealing the treasure or their grand plan to frame Bluejam would be for naught. Ace finally got to the top of the ladder and peered through the railing, seeing no one he scrambled onto the deck and began scoping the deck and other areas of the ship where some sort of guard would be placed including the mast. Luckily there didn't seem to be anyone aboard the ship. Ace signaled Sabo letting him know and the blonde made the same climb up that Ace did.

"These pirates must be idiots not having anyone on deck to guard their ship." Ace commented offhandedly as they roamed the deck. "Or maybe they don't have anything worth guarding."

"Let's hope not on that second point, otherwise we'll be in big trouble with Bluejam for not bringing back any treasure." Sabo commented back as they both headed towards the cabins.

"How did Rocko even know that this ship was here? I thought he stayed close to Grey Terminal." Ace asked as they continued deeper into the ship.

"Joe, you know that old guy who's always telling stories, told me that Rocko used to be a member of this group of bandits that frequent the area. Maybe he heard something from one of them." Sabo replied.

Ace snorted. "I doubt it. Bandits would never reveal the location of potential treasure."

"Unless they're trying to do the same thing to Rocko, what we're doing to him and Bluejam." Sabo pointed out.

They both paused for a brief moment and looked at each other. "Nah." Bandits were way too stupid to come up with a plan that smart. So they continued down thoroughly amused by their earlier thoughts searching for any sign of treasure.

"You know, I really like this ship," Sabo spoke up as they walked the corridors noticing all of the small touches such as empty bottles of alcohol and pictures of various adventures that the crew seemed to go on, in one room he had even seen a picture of a small child. Who knew pirates had kids? "It sort of feels like a home. Maybe our ship will be like this when we set sail Ace. What do you think."

Ace hummed in thought. "Maybe. I agree on the feel of the ship, but I've always pictured myself on something bigger."

They then began discussing their dream ships with each other each getting more elaborate than the last.

"I'm going to have an underwater viewing port."

"I'm going to have an aquarium large enough for a Sea King."

Well I'm going to have a ship made entirely of Adam's Wood."

"I'm going to have a kitchen so large it will feed an entire fleet of pirates."

"Of course you would think about food." Sabo teased lightly, but then frowned. "Hey, how are you feeling? You didn't really eat anything substantial before coming."

Ace rubbed his stomach in response. After the incident with the boar he decided to just pick some wild mushrooms and berries to tide him over until this mission with Sabo was over. "I should be fine, but maybe we should see what's in their kitchen before we get the treasure?" He suggested hesitantly.

"Maybe you could wait just a bit longer Ace, because I think I found the treasure room." Sabo replied happily.

They stood before a solid oak door which unlike the other rooms they had looked in was locked tightly. "If there's treasure anywhere it's here. Keep a lookout while I play with the lock." Sabo asked his dark-haired friend.

Ace nodded listening and watching for any unusual sounds such as footsteps. After what felt like too long but in reality, was only about 8 minutes the lock gave way and they were able to get in.

Walking in they couldn't get their jaws off the ground. The entire room overflowed with gold and precious jewels. Chests filled with belis and ancient maps also were placed round the room. There was more treasure in this room than either of the boys thought they would see in their entire lives.

"Holy shit." Ace said.

"I know." Sabo responded. They both looked at each other and grinned widely before running into the room laughing. They leapt into the gold grabbing handfuls of treasure. They laughed in absolute delight as children in a candy store or in this case children in a treasure room. However, while shifting through the piles Sabo began to get an uneasy feeling. This was way too easy. Every book Sabo read about pirates spoke about how fiercely they guarded their treasure. The books spoke about booby traps that would lay around a pirate's ship and yet even though they walked casually they sprung none of the traps.

Ace noticed how Sabo was no longer going through the treasure gleefully and approached him slowly. "Something wrong Sabo?"

"Ace, remember earlier when you said these pirates were idiots?" The brunette nodded. "Well they must be some of the strongest idiots in the East Blue, otherwise how did they get all of this treasure? "

"What are you saying Sabo?" Ace questioned.

"I'm saying that maybe…" But before he could finish his sentence several loud thumps interrupted them. Sabo and Ace looked at each other with wide eyes. Uh-Oh.

A loud voice was heard. It sounded young but Sabo and Ace were too much in shock to actually hear what it said, but they definitely heard the response.

"No way Anchor. There's no way in Hell I'm taking you with us! Especially since you ate that Devil Fruit!" The voice seemed to cackle with playful delight leaving Ace and Sabo thoroughly confused. What in the world was a Devil Fruit? Why was a pirate talking to someone that sounded like a kid and from the ending of the conversation it was probably the captain no less?

"We should get out of here." Sabo suggested.

"What about the treasure?" Ace asked.

Sabo grabbed a couple of large handfuls of treasure and stuffed them into a bag as response. "This should be enough to satisfy Bluejam and get him off our tail. I know our original plan was to frame Bluejam for taking the treasure, but these pirates could be strong enough to destroy the whole island."

Ace opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it. Now was not the time to question his friend. He too grabbed a couple of handfuls of treasure for good measure and they both headed towards the door. There was just one small problem, the door was bolted shut.

"What the Hell? I can't open the door!" Ace panicked.

"What do you mean you can't get the door open?"

Ace and Sabo tried their best but couldn't budge the solid Oak doors. Whether it was part of a booby trap or the fact that they had foolishly let the heavy doors close behind them, Sabo didn't know, but there was one thing he was certain of.

"Ace, I think we're going to be leaving Dawn Island for a while."

Said brunette turned to his gap-toothed friend. "Don't talk like that Sabo we'll…"

"Alright Roo, raise the anchor. Let's castoff men!" It was the same voice from earlier.

Sabo and Ace felt a slight lurch as the boat began to sail. They looked at each other in slight panic, before Ace grinned nervously. "Well Sabo it looks like you were right we are leaving Dawn Island." Ace then did something Sabo didn't expect, laugh.

Sabo watched for several seconds while his dark-haired friend seemed to roll around in hysterics and he found himself laughing too. Of course that didn't last long as he felt a solid bony fist hit him square on the nose.

"YOU DUMBASS!" Ace yelled.

Ah, now that he expected.


	2. Chapter 2: Discovery

**AN: I would just like to say thank you for all of the lovely feedback I have gotten for this story after only the first chapter. The response has been unexpected and uplifting. I look forward to writing more of this story.**

Chapter 2: Discovery

Sabo woke up in slight pain and complete darkness. At first he shot up in complete panic when he heard a familiar voice. "If you're wondering why it's so dark, it's because it's nighttime. You've been out for a couple of hours. Sorry I didn't think I hit you that hard." That was Ace's voice. Sabo turned toward that which was familiar and after a couple of seconds got his eyes used to the darkness and made his way toward the very faint outline of his friend. When he finally reached Ace he touched the boy's shoulders before hugging him.

"I'm sorry I got us into this situation." His voice was tight with regret. "Who knows what's going to happen to us."

"Well I do know one thing," Ace replied. "You're taking the next watch. I've been awake and stressing for hours. Luckily no one has shown up in here. From what I could hear, they were all having just a gay old time, laughing it up and partying and eating… Damn I'm almost tempted to wake these pirates so I can either die quickly or get a decent meal."

Sabo frowned and rubbed his stomach which began to growl slightly. Come to think of it he didn't really have much to eat yesterday either, but he knew he was holding off better than Ace who had a much higher metabolism than he did. "I'll tell you what Ace, when the first sign of light comes in we'll break the door down, raid their kitchen, and steal a dinghy."

Sabo could feel Ace looking at him. "Are you insane? You were the one who said that these pirates were strong enough to destroy an entire island. And here I thought you were the smart one."

"And you were the one who wanted to wake the pirates in the middle of the night." Sabo retorted angrily, but then he took a deep breath calming down. "Look I know what I said earlier, but that doesn't mean that these pirates will destroy Dawn Island. I mean everyone knows that your grandfather protects Dawn and would never let a pirate that was bad dock at Foosha. You and I both know that Garp is fiercely protective of that village which is why it was difficult to convince you to come on this raid in the first place. Plus, it did sound like they were talking to a kid earlier…"

Ace blinked in confusion. "What are you saying Sabo."

"I'm saying maybe these pirates aren't too bad?" Sabo suggested hesitantly.

Ace crossed his arms and looked toward the sound of his friend's voice. "So what you're telling me is that these pirates are either bloodthirsty ruthless killers that could destroy an entire island, or they're a bunch of pansies that like to party and put flowers in children's hair." Ace voiced sarcastically.

"I was actually thinking of something in between. Like maybe they are usually pretty peaceful unless you piss them off? Look I don't know much about pirates, besides what I've read and what we've experienced with Bluejam, but what I do know is…"

"Shh," Ace covered the blonde's mouth with his hand and dragged him deeper into the treasure room. "You hear that? Someone's at the door." Sabo's eyes widened slightly as he too began to hear the door slowly creak open and the very beginnings of moonlight peeked through the door. They both looked at each other and nodded diving quickly into separate gold piles and brandishing their signature pipes waiting for whoever it was to come through that door and bolt out of there.

 **LINE BREAK**

Yasopp rubbed his head and groaned in pain. Why oh why did he decide to challenge his captain to a drinking contest? No, seriously, why? He couldn't remember much after they got on board the ship. After Benn revealed what their final objective in the East Blue would be before heading back to the Grand Line their captain decided it would be a good time for a pre-mission party and they all got wasted. He remembered insults being thrown (all in good fun of course) so maybe that was it? Gods he wished he could remember.

Ah well, it didn't really matter anyway. Taking a yawn and stretch he carefully navigated his way around the snoring pirates and from the smell, piles of puke. Looks like some people can't hold their liquor. Well they could clean it up themselves, forgive him for being a bit selfish, but he wanted to get away from them and plop down in his nice soft bed. Then again, he was a pirate so being selfish wasn't exactly unheard of.

He was making his way to his cabin when out of the corner of his eye he spotted the telltale signs of a lock to their treasure room. He gave a slight snort and picked up the lock. "Looks like Shanks got into the treasure again." He mused. Sure like most pirates they were protective of their treasure, but the main reason they decided to put a lock on the treasure room was to keep Shanks from spending all (yes ALL) of it on booze. The lock of course didn't work, but it did help them know when their captain had been dipping into the treasure when he wasn't supposed to (Which was all the damn time).

He was about to take the lock and put it back on the door when he heard voices inside. Yasopp frowned in confusion. He was certain that he "saw" everyone out on the deck passed out drunk, but now he's hearing voices inside the treasure room, and he knows for certain that it isn't the captain because he just saw the man passed out snoring on top of Lucky Roo earlier plus these voices sound way too young to be his captain. In fact the voices sound like…

Oh. No. He feels his stomach drop as he quickly moves to move the door. Please let this be just a hallucination from being drunk. He hopes to God that children are not aboard the ship. He loves kids sure, hell, he has one himself and he had been seriously considering asking Shanks to see his own son before they headed back to Dawn Island for what would probably be the last time, but a pirate ship was no place for children. Even on the East Blue marines would not take kindly to children being on a pirate ship, especially if these children were anything like Luffy who idolized pirates more than anything.

Yasopp feels his stomach drop even lower. Please don't let Luffy be on the ship. He hurries and pushes the heavy door open quite easily and calls out a tentative "Hello" There is no immediate response which thankfully, definitely rules out Luffy but it did not rule out the possibility of others being in the treasure room. He allows a small wave of observation haki to flow through him which although probably not necessary would help him get a better feel for the beings in the room and let him know for certain that the voices were not a drunken hallucination.

It's a good thing he does because out of the darkness to his left he can feel a small angry blur coming at him with some sort of weapon in hand. He quickly leans back and grabs the weapon which from the feel of it appears to be a pipe and swings around before extending his arm and letting go, sending the pipe and whoever was attached careening toward a pile of gold. The being attached to the pipe seemed to be quite skilled however as he instead twisted his body and launched himself from one of the support beams of the ship.

The being is now coming at him faster than before and is making what Yasopp could only describe as a silent racket. He positioned himself to grab the pipe again when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, someone was trying to get the drop on him from behind. He found himself grinning, these kids were good but he was better. He reached his arm over his shoulder and grabbed the offending pipe that was trying to smack him in the back of the head and brought it along with the child attached crashing into the other boy who was trying to distract him from the front.

Yasopp pushes the pipe that was attached to the being who was attacking him from behind and slams it down onto the two which are currently on the floor. The two beings which Yasopp can now clearly see are, much to his chagrin, children, and are struggling and trying their best to get free. However, despite his drunken state and all of a sudden pounding head, Yasopp is still strong enough to restrain the two.

"Let us go you bastard!" The brunette finally yells. Ah, so they finally decide to speak to him. Unsurprisingly it Is the one that first attacked him. Perhaps it is another distraction? Well Yasopp won't fall for it. Instead of looking at the brunette he focuses on the blonde who is staring at him defiantly, but is remaining quiet throughout the ordeal.

"Who the Hell do you think you are trying to steal our treasure?" Yasopp glares at the both boys but his focus is on the blonde, "you should know attacking a pirate from behind is never a smart move." As he says this he tightens the pipe against the top-hatted child's windpipe the blonde gave a slight whimper of pain and just as he expected the brunette becomes louder and angrier.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" The grey-eyed child yells. Though he is obviously trying to be intimidating Yasopp can hear the slight tint of panic in the boy's voice, however it quickly disappears with his next statement. "If you do I will kill you." The boy's conviction was so strong it would've made a lesser man wet his pants, but Yasopp was either made of tougher stuff than most men these kids faced or his pounding head from the drinking didn't allow the killing intent to sink through.

Yasopp grins maliciously, the key is to intimidate these boys. "I've killed for less." That statement was not a lie. "Luckily for you, I'm not in the mood to kill children tonight. Do you know how difficult it is to get blood stains out of wood and gold?" His grin softened only very slightly as he removed the two pipes from the brothers necks. As expected they attacked him again.

Yasopp sighed and slammed the pipes into the boys lower abdomens knocking the wind out of them. Though they weren't unconscious they wouldn't be getting up any time soon. He grabs both boys by the back of their shirt collars and drags them outside the treasure room into the hallways of the ship and into an empty room. It was mostly bare save for a cot bolted in place against a wall and a small table and chair.

"The galley and kitchen are across the deck just look for the bright yellow door." Yasopp finds himself saying. "If you boys stay out of the treasure room I'm sure the captain wouldn't mind giving you one of our dinghies, and if he's in a really good mood he might give you some of the treasure." He is about to leave when a suspicious voice cuts through.

"Aren't you going to watch us? What if we decide to just up and leave or kill you in the middle of the night?" The brunette asks standing guard over his gap-toothed friend who is rubbing his probably bruised stomach.

Yasopp snorts. "As if you can do anything to me. Besides even if you did, do you honestly think the rest of my crew would stand idly by and let you get away with it?" He turns his body and his back is now facing them, he places a hand on the door. "You know how loyal you are to each other now? Imagine that kind of loyalty multiplied a thousand-fold." And with that he walked away.

Yasopp walked down the hall and looked up where he saw Benn Beckman casually smoking a cigarette. Yasopp snorted. "Figures you'd be up as well." He then reached into his pocket and procured the broken lock handing it to Benn "We have got to get a better lock for the treasure room."

The man raised a curious eyebrow looking at the two pipes in the sharpshooter's hand, it was unusual to see the man with weapons used mainly for close combat. "Is that it?"

"For now, yeah" Yasopp sighed. "I'm going to bed I have a killer headache and something tells me tomorrow is going to be very interesting." And with that Yasopp headed off to that nice soft bed and fell asleep with no trouble at all.

 **LINE BREAK**

To say Ace was mad would be an understatement. The boy was absolutely seething with rage and though Sabo was angry too at what had happened he didn't really understand Ace's level of anger. "Why are you so upset Ace?" Sabo asked pointedly.

Said boy shot up and glared at the blonde. "How could you ask that? That pirate took us out so easily. He barely tried and we couldn't do anything to him." He fell back onto the cot and covered his eyes with his forearm. "Sabo, I – I couldn't protect you. I am so weak."

"You're not weak Ace." Sabo groaned rolling his eyes in exasperation. "You're hungry, tired, and stressed out. If anyone has reason to be upset it should be me. I snuck up behind him and still got taken out." He then frowned looking at Ace directly. "And what's this about you protecting me? Are you saying I'm not strong enough to protect myself?"

Ace shot up, face crimson, and shook his arms in denial. "No, no, I'm not saying that you're weak. It's just that if anyone is going to die here it should be me not you." Ace finished so quietly that it was barely heard.

Sabo's earlier anger and indignation at his brother's insinuations disappeared. He found himself sitting closer to the older boy and putting an arm on his shoulders. Though neither of them were into showing physical affection to each other very often a recent book that Sabo had read about the importance of touch in a book that was humorously called "Someone Needs a Hug" he had seriously considered changing that dynamic with his friend who the writer of said book would say "was in desperate need of a hug." The gesture was unexpectedly not shrugged off but instead was returned gently by Ace.

No words were shared they were just wrapped up in each other, they stayed like that for several moments and then Ace's stomach growled. Blushing an even deeper crimson than before Ace released Sabo who let out a light chuckle. "What say you and I get some food from the galley."

Ace nodded tightly then froze. "Didn't that guy say we had to cross the deck?" Sabo nodded. "You think we'll be able to get through without waking anyone?"

Sabo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well I think we should be fine. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness so I should be able to figure out the best route through everyone. So long as one of us doesn't get a sudden bout of hunger and keel over on top of someone we should be okay."

Ace gave a light grin. "Then lead the way brother."

The two crept out the door which squeaked way too loud for their liking, but luckily the pirates snored even louder drowning out the sound. Sabo and Ace made their way down the hall pretty easily and opened the door to the main deck which was thankfully much quieter. As they got out the door Sabo couldn't help but grin at the snoring pirates. "So, which one do you think is the captain?" Sabo asked nudging Ace with his elbow.

"Don't know and don't really care at this point." Ace responded looking past the pirates to the other side of the deck. "Let's just get past these guys and raid their kitchen."

Sabo nodded while clutching his stomach. With Sabo leading they navigated their way round and through the pirates. They almost had a close call when a red-haired man bolted upright off of the rather large pirate he was sleeping on top of, yelled something indistinguishable, and then promptly fell back asleep. Sabo and Ace shared a quick glance and held still for several seconds, when no other pirate woke up they pressed onward.

When they finally reached the other side of the deck Sabo led them to the bright yellow door, there were no markings on the door to indicate that it was the kitchen so they had to trust the word of the pirate that this was the room. Opening the door slowly they were surprised to see a man with long black hair casually munching on an apple, they were even more surprised when the man grabbed two more and casually tossed one to each of them.

"So you must be the reason Yasopp said it was going to be interesting tomorrow." The man said with an upward quirk of his lips. He continued to munch on the apple and watch in amusement as the two boys just stared at him holding the apples in their hands.

Sabo was about to take a bite when Ace grabbed his arm stopping him. He never took his eyes off the man. "How do we know these apples aren't poisoned?" He asked.

"You've discovered my master plan." The man's voice dripped with dry and mirth-filled sarcasm. "I keep a basket of poisoned apples right out in the open in case children decide to sneak aboard and steal our treasure."

Ace glowered at the man while Sabo tried unsuccessfully to hide the wry smile that found his way to his mouth. "So," Sabo begins casually. "The man who attacked us in the treasure room was named Yasopp huh?"

The man leaned against the counter and nodded casually. "Yep, though I find it hard to believe that he attacked first. It's not his style to attack an unknown enemy at close range." He watched as Ace turned red in embarrassment. "Now I don't think you really care, but my name is Benn." Benn grinned lightly jabbing a thumb to his chest.

"You're right we don't care," Ace responded rather coldly which earned him a slight frown from Sabo, which Ace either didn't see or didn't care about. "We can get our own food and then we'll be out of your hair."

Instead of getting angry like Ace thought (and probably wanted) Benn opted instead for light teasing. "So you think that we'll leave an unmarked basket of poisoned apples out in the open and yet you think you can raid our kitchen and not grab poisoned food." If Benn was trying to make Ace feel like a fool then he was doing a bang-up job of it. The boy's face was downcast but Benn could see the hurt in the boy's eyes. The man gave a small sigh. "Listen, I'm not trying to make you feel foolish. It's no surprise and quite smart of you not to trust us, after all you are on a pirate ship. But you should know that none of us would hurt you unless you gave us reason to."

"Like steal your treasure?" Sabo asked with a light smile. He then frowned slightly as he turned to his brother who was being characteristically stubborn around Benn. Then again knowing Ace's heritage the blonde wasn't surprised that the boy was so guarded, especially since this pirate looked old enough to have been sailing during Roger's era. "So how long have you been a pirate?" Sabo asked casually biting into the apple.

"To answer your first question, we usually don't outright kill people for stealing treasure, if we did then our captain would've died a long time ago." Benn answered with a smirk. "As for your second question, I've only been a pirate for about 9 years but my friendship with the captain goes back to when he served as a cabin boy on Roger's ship."

Sabo nearly choked on his apple and Ace's eyes snapped up looking at Benn directly for the first time. "Wait your captain served under Roger?" Sabo asked in shock. Ace was too dumbfounded to say anything. All he could do was stare at the man.

Benn nodded lightly crossing his arms. "He wasn't on the ship when they went to Raftel but he was on it for the last three years of Roger's reign before the marines "captured" him." The emphasis on the word captured didn't go unnoticed by either Sabo or Ace, but they decided not to get into it.

Finally finding his voice again, Ace spoke up. "W-what did your captain think about Roger?" He asked tentatively.

"That's something you'll have to ask him," Benn answered. "Of course captain loves telling stories so you might have to stick around for a while before he'll answer your question, or maybe he will just throw you off the boat as soon as he sees you." Benn shrugged nonchalantly. "It depends on the mood he's in."

Ace was conflicted. On the one hand he really didn't want to stay on this ship longer than necessary. He wasn't comfortable being around so many opponents that could easily kill them. On the other hand this may be the only opportunity that he got to talk to someone that knew Roger and although he kept telling himself that he wanted nothing to do with the man there was a tiny inkling of himself that was curious about his heritage. His grandfather didn't divulge much about his father (which Ace knew was probably to protect him), but it left him feeling empty and barren.

As if knowing what was conflicting him Sabo placed a hand on Ace's shoulders. "I think we should stick around for a while Ace, you may never get another opportunity like this again."

Ace took a deep breath and let out a sigh biting into the apple. He then looked to Benn. "Alright we'll stay until your captain wakes up, but if there is any indication that anything bad is going to happen to either of us, then we're bailing." He said grabbing Sabo's arm.

Benn smiled. "Alright that sounds like a plan." He then looked pointedly at them. "You know, it's been several hours since we left Dawn Island and the fact that you boys were desperate enough to come to the galley instead of just stealing a dinghy shows how hungry you are." Ace and Sabo turned beet-red and their stomachs betrayed them by growling in ferocious protest. "Well if you two could stand to wait a couple of hours Eddie can whip up a better breakfast than I could and it would give you a chance to meet the rest of the crew.

Ace frowned slightly. He was really hungry and wanted to eat now, but he also didn't want this pirate to know how hungry he was; he didn't want to be seen as weak. He looked at the apple and decided that it should be enough to tide him over at least for the two hours until this Eddie made breakfast. However there was one stipulation.

"I suppose we can wait, however I don't want to meet the entire crew." Ace spoke up. He wasn't planning on making friends with these guys anytime soon, plus being in an enclosed space with potential enemies didn't seem like the best thing to do. Much to Ace's happiness Sabo seemed to agree with the sentiment.

"I agree with Ace, I don't feel comfortable being in an enclosed space with a bunch of pirates and no way to escape." Sabo voiced his concern.

Benn tapped his chin thoughtfully. "We don't really have a big crew, but I understand the feeling. So I'll make you a deal. You eat with the first crew member that wakes up, besides Eddie and if you feel uncomfortable at anytime you can leave as more crew members come in."

Sabo and Ace looked to each other silently gauging each other and determining what to do. Finally coming to a silent agreement, they nodded looking back to Benn. "Alright, we can agree to that only if we can eat as much as we want and no one stops us."

Ben grinned. "Deal, besides we have plenty of food."

Sabo and Ace laughed silently. This pirate had no idea what they had agreed to, they didn't know Ace's appetite. Sabo almost felt sorry for the poor pirate they were going to be eating with, he might not get anything to eat in the morning.

"Well, I guess we can head back to our room until morning, I'm really tired." Sabo said with a stretch and a yawn.

"Yeah, I guess I can head to bed as well." Ace voiced looking at Benn with a slightly less hostile glare than before.

Benn waved watching the boys with a smile. "Oh, by the way, usually the first person to wake up besides Eddie is Yasopp."

Ace and Sabo flinched slightly. Great they were going to be eating breakfast with the sadistic pirate that nearly tried to kill them. However, they regained their composure and continued walking onto the deck past the pirates. When they passed the dinghies, Sabo elbowed Ace pointing at the boat. They could still make an escape if he wanted.

Ace shook his head. He wasn't going to run away. Not when he was so close to the truth. He would find about his heritage and more importantly than that he was going to kick the shit out of that damn pirate that attacked them in the treasure room. The bastard deserved it.

Sabo became slightly worried about Ace's devilish grin. "What are you thinking about Ace?" He asked lightly as they continued to walk now in the main hall on the other side of the deck.

"Oh, just the sweet revenge plan I'm sure you'll come up with as I sleep away." Ace smirked towards Sabo's direction.

"Ah, I see," Sabo breathed out. Less than a second later what Ace said hit him. "Wait what?"

"You heard me," Ace shot back. "Don't you remember in the treasure room when I said you would be taking the next watch. I'm damn tired and besides your better at traps than I am."

"Says the boy who has spent half his life trapping animals." Sabo glowered. "Being knocked unconscious is not the same as restful sleep you know."

"Don't really care," Ace answered with a smirk. "Besides, I've already fallen asleep."

"No you haven't, get up you bastard." Sabo retorted. There was no reply and Ace lay on the cot unmoving. "Ace…? Ace?" There was still no reply.

There was a tiny part of Sabo that wanted to smack his friend awake, but he decided against it. The fact that Ace was willingly falling asleep showed Sabo how much faith Ace had in him. The sentiment should have felt him feeling warm and fuzzy, which it did for the most part; but there was also a slightly bitter feeling.

How could Ace trust him so much? The confession of Roger being Ace's father was the first instance of absolute trust, but there was a small part of Sabo that chalked it up to a need to get it off his chest. Certainly, the way he revealed that tidbit of information in such a nonchalant way could offer proof for his case, at least that's what Sabo told himself.

There was also the fact that he willingly followed Sabo to get treasure from a pirate ship in Foosha, despite the danger and the fact that he was absolutely against the idea of entering a place where his grandfather could be. Then again, Ace did joke about using him as a human shield. (At least Sabo hoped it was a joke.)

Lastly there was the fact that right now, even though they were on a ship full of pirates, one of which served under Roger whom Ace despised more than anyone that Sabo ever knew or met. He was certain that his voice was the push that kept Ace on the ship instead of rowing back to Dawn Island in a stolen dinghy.

Then again maybe he was just looking too much into this. Maybe Ace really was just straight and to the point with people he knew, maybe he was sarcastically joking, and maybe he would've stayed anyway even though a pirate captain that served under a man whom Ace absolutely hated was on this ship.

Or maybe Sabo was pulling things out of his ass to keep himself from extending the same courtesy of telling Ace about his heritage. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ace, he trusted the boy with his life and shared the boy's dream of being a pirate, but Ace didn't know the horrors that came from being a noble. How could Ace understand being as a bird trapped in a gilded cage with no way out? How could he know what it meant to be around people who birthed you only to increase their own status and not love their own son? How could he know what it felt like to be so broken, that he felt like there was no fixing himself?

Ace had only heard about the horrors of his heritage, while Sabo had seen the monstrosities of his. He had read the propaganda against other races, he had heard the cries of the people banging on the walls of Goa's High Town, and he knew that he was the only one who cared.

That was why Sabo never spoke about his heritage with Ace. The boy was already troubled enough by his own heritage, so why should Sabo bother telling about his? After all, it was like he always told Ace that it didn't matter who his father was. What mattered was what they did in life now.

So Sabo would keep his heritage a secret from Ace until the day he died. His past would remain trapped while the rest of him lived free. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make. It certainly sounded more noble in his head, then again, what did pirates care about nobility?

When did he care about nobility?

He should probably stop dwelling on such things and focus on that revenge plan of Ace's. Now where could he find some rope?


End file.
